Chapter 1896 - 341:

Li Zhiyuan: "That pit… you could say I dug it too."

"What do you mean?"

"I want the Yu Family to think I'm on their side. I want to wash off my 'black' reputation, so I can blend into the Yu Family. When it's time to wipe them out, we can coordinate from inside and out."

"Why do you have to make things so complicated?"

"Because that's the Dragon King family. A centipede keeps twitching long after it's dead."

"The seniors in the Jianghu are about to make their move. We juniors wandering the roads at most just go in to sweep the floor and do the cleanup."

Li Zhiyuan: "You almost died."

Chen Xiyuan: "I…"

Li Zhiyuan: "The ones who want to kill you now aren't the Yu Family. Believe it or not, if you walk outside right now and let your aura leak out, people near Luoyang will immediately come to kill you."

Chen Xiyuan: "Are you threatening me? If I don't agree to your conditions, you'll just toss me outside?"

Next, the two of them spoke at the same time:

Li Zhiyuan: "I'm not so petty."

Chen Xiyuan: "If it's a threat, I accept."

They both fell silent.

Li Zhiyuan: "I may not stoop to that, but if I'm forced, I might have no choice."

Chen Xiyuan: "Then I'll agree to your terms."

The boy felt she wasn't that easy to communicate with, yet somehow pretty easy to talk into things.

Chen Xiyuan: "You know, since I lit the lamp and started walking the Jiang, this is my first time teaming up with someone."

Li Zhiyuan: "I could tell."

Chen Xiyuan: "And you?"

Li Zhiyuan: "Me too, not often."

Chen Xiyuan: "Then why did you choose to team up with me this time?"

Li Zhiyuan: "You're strong."

Chen Xiyuan smiled.

Li Zhiyuan: "And easy to trick."

Chen Xiyuan stopped smiling.

Li Zhiyuan: "Anything else you need to say to me?"

Chen Xiyuan: "Anything else you want to say?"

Li Zhiyuan stood up and said, "Then keep resting. Try to recover as soon as you can."

Chen Xiyuan: "Okay."

Li Zhiyuan went back to his own room. It was still dark outside. The boy didn't lie back down, just sat quietly by the bed.

Ten minutes later, he left the room again and walked to the workroom door.

When he pushed, it was locked from the inside.

He flicked his fingertips lightly, and all the threads wrapped around the handle inside snapped open.

He opened the door and stepped in. No one inside.

He reached out and pulled open the wardrobe. No one in the bathroom either.

She was gone.

...

"Boss, one bowl of meat soup, one portion of shredded flatbread, to go."

"Girl, you're here—yo yo yo!"

The boss inside the glass counter shouted in a high-pitched voice, because his wife's hand was pinching the soft flesh at his waist.

Even so, the boss's wife still said to Chen Xiyuan, "Girl, sit for a bit. The soup's almost ready, I'll pack it up for you in a minute."

The boss's wife was only mad at her own man; she didn't have any bad feelings toward this girl.

Mainly because the girl was too pretty—no way she'd fancy this guy whose hairline and time in bed were both on the decline.

Chen Xiyuan sat down at a small table and started waiting.

Just then, a familiar voice sounded from behind:

"One bowl of meat soup, one order of meatballs, two bottles of Haibi; and don't pack hers, we'll eat here."

Chen Xiyuan turned her head, puzzled, looking at the boy who'd appeared here.

Li Zhiyuan sat down opposite her and took two pairs of chopsticks from the holder, passing one pair to her.

"You're badly hurt. You shouldn't be out alone. If you wanted to eat, you could've let me pack it and bring it back to the inn."

Chen Xiyuan: "Kiddo, you shouldn't have followed me out."

Li Zhiyuan picked up the bottle opener on the table, opened two bottles of Haibi, stuck straws in them, took a sip himself, and said:

"I'm hungry too."

Chen Xiyuan stood up, ready to leave.

Li Zhiyuan: "I may not practice martial arts, but I can run. In your current state, you're not necessarily faster than me."

Chen Xiyuan reached out to grab the boy by the throat.

Li Zhiyuan lifted the pair of chopsticks in his hand upright, wedging them between her two fingers, and said in a low voice:

"Suppress."

"Bang!"

Chen Xiyuan's body trembled, and her palm was pinned to the little table by the chopsticks in the boy's hand.

Her Domain now couldn't stray too far from her body; as long as there wasn't direct contact, it wasn't a big problem.

Li Zhiyuan: "Sit down and drink your soup properly."

Chen Xiyuan sat back down, and the boy moved the chopsticks away.

"Soup's here!"

The boss's wife brought over two bowls of soup and the side dishes.

Chen Xiyuan: "If you don't leave now, you won't be able to."

Li Zhiyuan picked up the seasoning jar on the table, added some salt and chili to his bowl, and said, "It just got served and I haven't even started eating. Why would I leave?"

Chen Xiyuan: "When I came to and examined my body from the inside, I found an Array pattern set up in me. It should've been branded on me yesterday, when I was escaping from the museum.

When I wasn't conscious and my Domain couldn't unfold, that pattern was very hard to detect.

But when I woke up and opened my Domain to heal, that pattern was triggered too.

Right now, I can't erase that pattern in my body in a short time.

My location is already exposed.

They'll come to hunt me down soon. If you stay with me, you'll die too."

She'd left because she didn't want to drag the boy down with her.

Li Zhiyuan stirred the meat in his soup with his chopsticks, letting the seasoning spread. Then he lifted the bowl and took a sip of soup.

Finding it still a bit bland, he reached for the salt jar again and said in passing:

"Is there a chance that when I was treating you earlier, I'd already found that pattern in your body?"

Chen Xiyuan: "Then why didn't you remove it beforehand? Right, that pattern's very delicate—you couldn't do anything about it, could you."

Li Zhiyuan: "It is very delicate, but removing it isn't hard."

The boy figured it was probably that first impression's influence—this young woman in front of him just wasn't all that confident in his strength.